Former Police Officer Killed In Shootout With U.S. Marshals In Upper Darby

UPPER DARBY, Pa., (CBS/AP) – A former police officer being sought in a central Pennsylvania shooting was shot and killed during a confrontation with law enforcement officers at a Philadelphia-area hotel, authorities said Tuesday night.

Police in Mount Carmel had earlier announced that Anthony Galla, 32, was being sought in a shooting in the Northumberland County borough and should be considered “armed and extremely dangerous.”

Superintendent Michael Chitwood of the Upper Darby police department said Galla was accused of having broken into the residence of a former girlfriend at about 1 a.m. Tuesday and fired seven rounds at a man, hitting him in the foot.

A U.S. Marshals task force including state police troopers located him in the area of the Summit Inn in Upper Darby, where he was seen with another man and woman.

Chitwood said members of the task force chased the man who was with Galla to a second-floor room, where gunfire resulted in Galla’s death. No law enforcement officers were injured.

Officers found a loaded pistol underneath Galla’s body and a duffel bag in the room contained numerous gun magazines, rounds for the pistol and ammunition for an AR-15 rifle he was believed to possess, Chitwood said.

“He was ready for war,” Chitwood said, adding that police were still searching the room as well as two vehicles.

Chitwood said the two other people are being interviewed but no charges had been filed.

The Lebanon Daily News reported that court records and newspaper reports indicated that Galla, of Cleona, had worked for several police departments in Northumberland and Luzerne counties in recent years.